


Like Father, Like Daughter

by 2by4



Category: Captain America - All Media Types
Genre: Homophobic Language, I use the N-word twice, Kid Fic, M/M, Margaret Grace Rogers does not like bullies, Racist Language, middle schoolers are horrible
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-01
Updated: 2015-06-01
Packaged: 2018-04-02 06:40:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,775
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4050046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/2by4/pseuds/2by4
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve and Sam's daughter gets in trouble at school.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Like Father, Like Daughter

Sam had been able to strip out of his wing-pack and goggles, without which, his light body armor did a decent job at passing for civilian clothes. Steve, on the other hand, was in full Captain America gear, in all its star-spangled glory, when they arrived at Gracie’s school. They’d only just landed in New York when Maria had passed on the news that Gracie was in trouble.

Their daughter was one of three children slumped in uncomfortable plastic chairs outside the principal’s office. One kid, a boy who might have been older than Gracie, was holding a tissue to his bloody nose. The other kid, a girl, was red eyed and sniffling and constantly wiping stray tears from her cheeks.

And then there was Margaret Grace Rogers, arms crossed, jaw clenched, eyes hard, the very picture of stubbornness and barely-leashed anger. Every so often, she’d shoot a glance towards the boy and grin smugly, before she went back to her stubborn default.

There were three other parents on the scene: a pleasant looking couple standing with the crying girl, and a red-faced angry man with the boy. They all looked up at Sam and Steve’s approach, and there was the requisite double-take people always did when they saw Steve outside of its-the-end-of-the-world crisis mode. And then there was the “holy hell that’s Captain America” realization, and in any other situation that might have been the cue to start fawning, but given circumstances, it was inappropriate, so no one said a word. Though the boy suddenly went pale as a sheet and Gracie looked a lot more smug.

Thankfully, the silence didn’t drag on very long, because that was the moment a man Sam recognized as Gracie’s math teacher stuck his head out of the principal’s office, took stock of everyone present, and ushered them all in side.

The office obviously wasn’t designed to fit seven adults and three children, but they all squeezed in. The kids all lined up across from the principal’s desk, Sam stood behind Gracie’s shoulder with the other parents, except Steve who stood by the door trying to take up as little space as possible, and the math teacher stood off to the side, halfway behind the desk.

Gracie was standing in the middle of the children, the boy to her left and the girl to her right. The boy’s father shot a glare at Sam, then scooted away from him as much as he could in the little space available.

Principal McIntyre sat at her desk and leveled a stern look around the room. “Thank you all for coming so quickly,” she started by saying. “Your children were involved in a serious altercation today, but they’re being very tightlipped about the cause of it all. I was hoping they’d be more forthcoming with details with their parents present.” She looked at the children, the boy was glaring down at his feet, the girl was sniffling again, and Gracie was back to clenching her jaw with her arms crossed.

“Well, don’t all speak at once,” Principal McIntyre said. The children held their silence and the woman sighed. “Mr. Lewis, how about you tell us what you saw, then.”

The math teacher stood up straight and glanced quickly around the room before speaking. “I was on the other side of the lunchroom when it started. I looked over in time to see Ms. Rogers slam Mr. Dickson’s face into the table. She had him pinned with his arm behind his back by time I made it over to them and broke it up.”

Sam mentally prayed for god to give him patience, before looking down at his daughter. “Young lady, what do you have to say for yourself?” Gracie kept her eyes fixed on the wall behind Principal McIntyre and mumbled something under her breath. “What was that?” Sam asked, putting a bit more lead in his voice.

Gracie turned to face Sam and stated loudly and quite venomously, “I said, I should have broken his arm. Ryan is racist and homophobic and deserved more than a busted nose.”

Both the boy and his father started speaking at once, but the principal silenced them quickly. “You’ll have your turn to speak,” she said, “but right now we’re hearing Ms. Roger’s side of the story.” The man did not look as if he appreciated being told to wait his turn, his face grew redder and he clenched his fists, but he kept his mouth closed. “Ms. Rogers,” McIntyre prompted.

Gracie seemed as if she wasn’t going to say anything more, but this time Steve spoke up. “Margaret,” he said in what Sam mentally dubbed his Commander Rogers voice.

Gracie sighed, but obediently began speaking. “I was on my way to my lunch table, when Ryan and his friends went over to Noel, who was just sitting there not bothering anyone, and snatched her lunchbox off the table. He said she couldn’t have it because girls aren’t allowed to like Captain America. Everyone knows Noel shies away from confrontation, so I went over and asked him nicely to give back her lunchbox and leave her alone.

“He said he would only give it back if she proved she knew more about Captain America than him. Noel started to cry, so I told him this was neither a game nor a discussion and he needed to give back her lunchbox and grow up. Then he saw the Commandos patch on my jacket and said he bet I couldn’t even name them all. I told him that, considering the fact that Captain America is my dad, I could name all the Howling Commandos by time I was three. And he said I was full of shit. Said Captain America couldn’t be my dad because I’m black.”

Sam raised a single eyebrow at that sentence and look over at the boy who was still glaring at his feet. This wasn’t the first time someone had said something like that to Gracie though, so Sam was sure that wasn’t the reason she’d slammed his face into the table. He waited for her to continue.

“I told him that he must be as stupid as he is childish, because everyone knows Captain America is married to the Falcon. Then he said ‘that’s bullshit’ and ‘Captain America’s not a fag’ and that ‘Falcon ain’t nothing but Cap’s house nigger.’” The look Sam shot towards the kid this time was coated in shock and the understanding of why his daughter wished to break the boy’s arm. The look on the boy’s father’s face was a disgusting mix of anger and pride.

“I told him to watch is mouth before I knocked his teeth in,” Margaret went on, “and he said he’d liked to see me try. And he shoved me. I wanted to punch him then, but I’d only given him one warning to back down. So, I told him to get out my face, warning number two. He laughed and said that the reason I wish Captain America was my dad is because my mom is a hoe who doesn’t know who my real dad is. I swept his feet from under him and he fell on his ass. I said if he knew what’s good for him, he’d stay down. That was warning number three and should have been the end of it.

“I took Noel’s lunchbox from him and turned to give it to her. I was gonna invite her to sit with me and let that be that, but apparently Ryan doesn’t know what’s good for him, because he got up and yanked me by the hair while my back was turned. I broke his hold like Auntie Nat taught me and, well Mr. Lewis saw what happened after that. I didn’t do anything wrong. I was defending myself and a classmate and I gave three warnings before making him bleed.”

The thing is, Margaret took after Steve. She’d grown from Sam’s sweet little Gracie who would never hurt a fly, to young lady as feisty as her namesake with an ingrained hatred for bullies and injustice. This wasn’t the first time she’d gotten into fight while defending her classmates.

Sam had tried to teach her more peaceful methods of conflict resolution, but her favored way of getting her point across was still with her fists. Sam did manage to get her to promise not to hurt without giving them three chances to walk away first. She’d inherited the super soldier serum from Steve and wasn’t always in complete control of her strength. It was easier to defend her actions when it was made clear that physical violence was her last resort.

Sam, personally, blamed Bucky. He was the one who’d told her countless stories about how toothpick sized Steve had picked fights with bullies twice his size and had told the stories with an equal amount of pride and exasperation, making Steve’s pre-serum self into a kind of role model for Margaret. So, technically it was Steve’s fault, too.

A glance over his shoulder at Steve and revealed a proud look in the man’s eyes. Sam sighed. Yeah, definitely Steve’s fault. And maybe just a bit Natasha’s fault for teaching Gracie to fight in the first place, though Sam wasn’t actually against his daughter learning how to defend herself.

“Is this really how things took place?” Principal McIntyre asked.

“No!” Ryan Dickson’s father declared. “The girl’s obviously lying to cover her own hide. You know how  _those_ people are. Always picking fights with us decent folks, then lying to make themselves look like the victim.” And the way he said ‘those people’ removed any doubt Sam might have had about this man being the type of person to teach his son to call people ‘fags’ and ‘house niggers.’

Steve spoke up before Sam could, and Sam was grateful because there was chance of him losing his temper if he had to speak. Steve stepped forward and placed a calming hand on Sam’s shoulder, then turned to the man next to him. “I don’t appreciate what you’re implying, Mr. Dickson,” Steve said and his carefully regulated Captain America voice, “My daughter is not a liar and she’s probably one of the most  _decent_  people in this room.”

The man turned, if possible, even redder at being chastised by Captain America. “What I meant, Captain,” his voice was placating but his face was mask of indignation, “is that children lie all the time to avoid getting in trouble. And that my boy should get the chance to tell his side of the story.”

“I said he would get his turn,” Principal McIntyre cut in. “And he shall. He can start by telling us why he even in the lunchroom at the time of the altercation when he was scheduled to be in gym class.”

All eyes in the room turned to the boy who’d yet to look up from his feet. Mr. Dickson gave his son a slightly too rough shove and said, “Well, boy?”

“I was getting something from my locker,” Ryan said. “We were only passing through the cafeteria because it was quicker than going around. I saw Noel’s Captain America lunchbox and I only wanted to tell her how much I liked it. Margaret overheard me and she came over and started bragging about Captain America being her dad. I didn’t believe her, so she pushed me down. Then she snatched the lunchbox from me and started walking away. I grabbed her shoulder to make her apologize and give the lunchbox back, but she got angry and slammed my face against that table. Then Mr. Lewis came over.”

He told the story hesitantly and without meeting anyone’s eyes. “Is that the truth, son?” Steve asked.

“Of course it’s the truth,” Mr. Dickson answered for his son. “Why would my boy lie?”

“Why would my daughter lie?” Sam countered.

Mr. Dickson huffed. “Who knows why you people do anything?”

Principal McIntyre slammed her hand loudly against her desk. “That’s enough out of you, Mr. Dickson. Either you hold your tongue or go stand in the hall. Your son is already in enough trouble without your help. Let’s hear Ms. Morgan’s version of events and put this whole thing to rest.”

The girl, Noel, looked ready to cry when everyone turned to face her. Her fear of confrontation and being the center of attention was plain on her face and Sam felt sorry that she was being put through this. She glanced around the room like a frightened kitten and visibly flinched when she met Ryan’s eyes. The boy was looking at her in a way that said plain whose story she should agree if she didn’t want to be hurt. Gracie turned slightly and placed herself between the boy and the frightened girl and smile comfortingly at her. Sam was inwardly proud of how easily his daughter had nullified the boys attempt at intimidation.

Noel could barely bring herself to face Principal McIntyre and her anxiety presented itself in the way she was rolling the hem of her shirt. Her mother placed and comforting arm around her and she swallowed hard before speaking. “Gracie was telling the truth. Ryan stole my lunch box and she was just trying to get it back for me.”

“Thank you, Ms. Morgan,” Principal McIntyre said, cutting off the Dicksons before they could even fully verbalized their rage.

“She’s lying. They’re both lying!” 

“No, I honestly don’t think they are.” Principal McIntyre said.

“You’re just playing favorites because who her father is,” the older Dickson accused.

The principal gave the man a look that could strip flesh from bones. “I do not play favorites, Mr. Dickson. It is my job to offer every student the benefit of the doubt until I hear all sides of the story, regardless of my personal opinion of the student. 

“I deal in facts, and the facts are: your son was lying about why he was in the cafeteria at the time of the incident. His gym teacher as already informed me of how often he skips. The facts are, there is no reason for an eighth grade boy should have been involved in any kind of altercations with two sixth grade girls. And the facts are, your son is a bully.”

If the red faced man did not appreciated being chastised by Steve, he  _really_  did not like being told off by a woman. “You listen to me, woman!”

“No you listen to me!” Principal McIntyre cut him off. “Your son is prejudiced and rude and if I could expel a student just for not liking their attitude, he would have been out the door a long time ago. He’s been picking on kids smaller than him ever since he stepped foot in this school and I’m glad someone finally had the guts to stand up to him.”

Mr. Dickson looked furious. He moved as if to reach across the desk and grab Principal McIntyre, but was stilled by a hand on his shoulder. “You sure you want to do that?” Steve ask, voice steely and eyes cold.

Stupid as the man obviously was, he wasn’t crazy enough to try to fight Captain America. There was a suspended silence in the room, before Dickson angrily yanked himself out of Steve’s grip and moved away from him.

In the end, Gracie was given three days of in school suspension for harming a classmate. Noel received no punishment, because she was the victim in the whole thing. And Ryan Dickson was given five days out of school suspension for the physical and verbal intimidation of a younger student. Mr. Dickson looked ready to pitch a fit, but kept his mouth closed under the weight of Steve’s glare.

They took Margaret home, and she obviously expected to receive another punishment, but she really hadn’t done anything wrong. Sam sighed. “You did good sticking up for your classmate like that, we’re not going to punish you for being a good person. Just try to stay out of trouble from now on. And don’t tell your Uncle Bucky about this, he’s going to be way too amused.”

“Yes, sir,” Gracie said with a large smile.

Sam sighed again and turned to face his husband after Gracie went to her room. “Our daughter is going to be a back alley brawler, and it’s all your fault.”

“Hey, I was good today. I wanted to punch that guy’s lights out, but I held my peace.”

Sam let out an amused noise and admitted, “I probably wouldn’t have stopped at punching him.”


End file.
